The first details of IO Interactive’s upcoming James Bond game Project 007 have emerged today. Speaking in an interview with IGN’s Ryan McCaffrey, IOI CEO Hakan Abrak revealed early plot details and concept ideas about the upcoming release. Abrak revealed the game will tell a completely new James Bond story, and won’t use the likeness of any past 007 actors.
Discussing its approach to developing their first licensed game, Abrak said IO’s plan is “to really embrace this fully” by taking risks and doing something unlike fans have seen before. That said, loyalty to the source material is paramount. Abrak said, “We’re inspired by the whole thing, and just sucking things into us to make an original Bond… that is absolutely true and recognizable in the values there.”
These details mean Project 007 will almost certainly be a departure from NightFire or Blood Stone, which told original stories using the likenesses of Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig respectively. However, further details on who will play 007, and what else the game will entail, have yet to emerge.
Announced in November 2020 and still tentatively titled Project 007, we do know that the game is set to be ‘the very first James Bond origin story’ following the secret agent in the infancy of his career. Although a teaser trailer was released upon announcement, IO appears to still be hiring developers, meaning it’ll be at least a few years before we see the game in action. Despite this, the relative success of their Hitman reboot trilogy — with the recent Hitman 3 recouping development costs in its first week of sales — means the property is in very safe hands, commercially and artistically. Abrak certainly makes it sound like a passion project, and if that passion bleeds into the final game, fans of the British spy are in for a treat — regardless of who ends up playing 007.
